16-17
may be eligible if they have just left care or have had to flee
home.

Be
capable of full time work

Periods
of up to two weeks sickness are allowed

Not
be in full time education

However,
many full-time College courses are described as ‘part-time’ for
this reason. Studying at the Open University is allowed.

If
you are disabled or you are a parent in full-time education, you
can claim JSA during the summer break. (Although note that disabled
students could qualify for ESA instead at that time, and single
parents can qualify for Income Support instead at that time).

As
soon as your course ends (often in June), you can immediately claim
JSA – even if you are intending to go back to study for another
course in the next term. So if you finish a BA in June 2009 and
start an MA in September 2009, make sure to claim JSA from June to
September. You don't need to wait for your results to come through
(which can take weeks or even months), you can claim JSA right from
the course end date. The claim will not normally be backdated
though, so start the claim immediately.

If
you have been on benefits more than two years, your Employment
Officer may give approval for you to take on a ‘qualifying
course’ and stay on JSA.

Not
be a pensioner

Men
aged 60-64 can claim JSA or Pension Credit. Normally better
to claim Pension Credit, because no signing on and no capital
limit.

If
you have children, then you would also claim Child Tax Credit. In the
old days you used to get extra JSA for children, but not anymore.

There
are two types of JSA:

Income
Based JSA is means tested. To be eligible you must:

Have
less than £16,000 capital

JSA
rate decreases if you have £6,000 capital or more

The
house you live in does not count as capital. Any other house
you own does count, unless you are actively trying to sell
it

You
can get rid of capital by spending. However if the DWP believe you
have spent simply in order to qualify for JSA then they can ignore
the spending and treat you as if you still have the capital. That
decision is appealable.

Your
partner must work less than 24 hours a week (Note that you might
both qualify for Working Tax Credit instead in that case).

Contribution
based JSA depends on your previous National Insurance
contributions.

To
be eligible you must have sufficient NI contributions – meaning
you’ve recently worked for four years or so

This
JSA lasts for only six months, after which you would, if
eligible, go on to Income-based JSA, or Working Tax Credit.

There
are no limits on your capital – multimillionaires are
eligible for contribution based JSA.

There
are no limits on the number of hours your partner works –
if your partner is in full time work on a high income, you are still
eligible for contribution based JSA.

When
claiming JSA, the first three days are classed as ‘waiting days’
when you receive no payments – except for linked jobseeking periods
(within 12 weeks of each other) when there are no waiting days
restrictions.

Jobseeker’s
Agreement: This is drawn up by the Employment Officer and it
states the terms you must agree to in order to receive JSA.

You
have 21 days to sign the Agreement, and your claim might be
backdated once you sign. You can appeal the terms of the
Agreement if they are too restrictive. You must do this within one
month.

The
Agreement will state you must be available for work and prepared
to work at least 40 hours per week. Carers and those with
disabilities may be allowed to restrict themselves to less hours.

You
must be able to start work immediately, however:

If
you do voluntary work you should get 1 weeks notice to start work
and 48 hours notice to attend an interview.

If
you are a carer - including looking after a child – you are
entitled to 48 hours notice to start work

If
you do some other service: 24 hours notice to start work

If
you are working part time for pay, you must be available to start
work at the end of your notice period.

You
may be able to get a permitted period included in your
Agreement – up to thirteen weeks in which you can restrict
yourself to looking only for your normal job and rates of pay.

Sanctions:
the DWP can sanction you if they decide you have not met the
Agreement requirements. This can include:

refusing
a notified vacancy, defined as a job vacancy which the claimant has
found out about from Job Centre Plus, who keep records of all the
jobs their clients request information about.

Missing
a ‘Restart Interview’

Not
being available for or actively seeking work

Voluntarily
leaving work (see below)

Refusal
to attend a compulsory scheme

You
can lose your JSA payments for from 2 to 26 weeks

This
does not affect Housing Benefit or Council Benefit. They
continue to be paid regardless of any JSA sanctions.

The
decision can be appealed

If
sanctioned you can apply for a hardship payment which will
effectively be reduced JSA payments

Delayed
Payments: Get a crisis loan for living costs if JSA
payments are delayed. This is paid back later, out of your benefits.
In Edinburgh call 0800 328 3838. They must make a decision within
four hours, and you can request a review of the decision if
refused. Young and childless people are often rejected but if you
keep applying for a loan you are likely to be successful.

Leaving
a job

If
you voluntarily leave a job you will not be eligible for JSA.

However
you may be eligible if you say that you left due to harassment;
because the job made you ill; because you received another job
offer which subsequently fell through; because you moved for a
partner’s job; or because you left to look after a relative.

If
you were fired for misconduct you can be sanctioned up to 26 weeks.

However,
you can appeal this decision. As many employers use ‘misconduct’
as an excuse to lay off workers, the JobCentre will often accept
that it wasn’t your fault.

Joint
Claims: couples should only make a joint JSA claim if they are
both jobseekers. A joint
income support claim makes more sense if possible – same money, but
no signing on requirements.

Migrants’
entitlement to JSA: Those from countries within the EU are
entitled to benefits if they are defined as a worker – this
includes unemployed workers and so includes JSA, but only if
you have previously worked in the UK. This entitles you to JSA and
Housing Benefit, but not Disability Benefit or Employment
Support Allowance.

After
5 years legal residence in the UK however, the claimant is entitled
to all benefits.

The
New Deal

For
under-25’s: You will be put on the New Deal scheme after 6
months on JSA. This will mean:

‘Gateway’:
16 weeks of weekly interviews pressuring you to work

‘Options’:
Compulsory full-time ‘work experience’ for 13 weeks with a
company like ‘Action for Employment’.

‘Follow
Through’: up to 26 weeks

For
25+: You will be put on the New Deal after 18 months.
Similar scheme, but the ‘Options’ period is replaced with
‘Intensive Activity Period, also 13 weeks, and essentially the
same. The ‘Follow Through’ period is shorter, 6-13 weeks.

You
must be signed off for 13 weeks in order the have a ‘new claim’
and therefore avoid being put on the New Deal.